Reuters Health News Summary

The long-acting antibody therapy called sipavibart showed a "statistically significant reduction" in symptomatic COVID-19 cases among immunocompromised patients, the company said. Pfizer offers up to $250 million to settle Zantac cancer lawsuits, FT reports Pfizer will pay up to $250 million to settle more than 10,000 U.S. lawsuits over cancer risks associated with its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Thai cannabis groups urge government to rethink plan to re-criminalise marijuana

Dozens of Thai cannabis advocates urged the government on Thursday to abandon its plans to re-list marijuana as an illegal narcotic, a week after it announced its dramatic policy U-turn just two years after de-criminalising it. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has made a push to allow cannabis use only for medical purposes, promising a tough stand on illicit drugs that he said were causing addiction and destroying the future of young people.

Johnson & Johnson to acquire Proteologix for $850 million

Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it would acquire Proteologix for $850 million in cash, as it looks to gain access to the privately held company's experimental atopic dermatitis treatments. Proteologix's antibody PX128 is ready to enter early-stage development for moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, commonly referred to as eczema, and moderate to severe asthma. PX130, its other antibody, is in preclinical development for moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.

Exclusive-Musk's Neuralink has faced issues with its tiny wires for years, sources say

Neuralink's disclosure last week that tiny wires inside the brain of its first patient had pulled out of position is an issue the Elon Musk company has known about for years, according to five people familiar with the matter. The company knew from animal testing it had conducted ahead of its U.S. approval last year that the wires might retract, removing with them the sensitive electrodes that decode brain signals, three of the sources said. Neuralink deemed the risk low enough for a redesign not to be merited, the sources added.

CVS Health launches new snack brand called Well Market

CVS Health launched a new packaged food brand called Well Market on Thursday, encompassing varieties of popcorn, cookies and almond. The brand will have 40 new snacks, beverages and groceries that will be sold at more than 9,000 CVS pharmacies across the United States and on the company's website.

First drop in overdose deaths in 6 years, US preliminary data shows

The number of deaths from drug overdose fell 3% to 107,543 in 2023 from the previous year, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released on Wednesday. States including Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana and Maine saw declines of 15% or more in such deaths, mostly from opioids, while Alaska, Washington and Oregon reported notable increases of at least 27% compared to 2022, the data showed.

AstraZeneca's COVID prevention drug cuts risk of disease in vulnerable patients

AstraZeneca's COVID-19 prevention therapy reduced the risk of infection in patients with weaker immunity in a late-stage trial, meeting its primary goal, the drugmaker said on Thursday. The long-acting antibody therapy called sipavibart showed a "statistically significant reduction" in symptomatic COVID-19 cases among immunocompromised patients, the company said.

Pfizer offers up to $250 million to settle Zantac cancer lawsuits, FT reports

Pfizer will pay up to $250 million to settle more than 10,000 U.S. lawsuits over cancer risks associated with its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The drugmaker was set to pay between $200 million and $250 million in the settlement, the newspaper reported, citing two people briefed on the deal.

Roche shares jump on obesity drug results from early-stage trial

Roche shares gained as much as 4.7% on Thursday after an early-stage trial showed that a newly-acquired obesity drug candidate led to significant weight loss, a key step in Swiss drugmaker's race to join the booming obesity treatment market. Roche said the study in the first of three trial stages required for regulatory approval showed the compound known as CT-388 yielded weight loss of 18.8%, when adjusted for a placebo effect, after 24 weeks in otherwise healthy adults with obesity.

Lilly's weekly insulin as effective as daily doses in studies

Eli Lilly said on Thursday its once-weekly insulin injection, efsitora, showed blood sugar reduction that was consistent with commonly used daily insulins across two studies in patients with type 2 diabetes. Lilly and Novo Nordisk are both developing weekly injections for long-acting insulins that could reduce the treatment burden for patients with diabetes.

Biogen, Ionis to discontinue development of ALS drug

Biogen and Ionis Pharmaceuticals said on Thursday they will terminate the development of their experimental treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)after failing to show improvement in patients inan early-to-mid stage study. ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects voluntary control of the arms and legs and leads to breathing trouble.